Category: All About Guns
It’s become a trope in movies and television. For reasons that I struggle to articulate we seem to be irresistibly drawn to stories about hired killers. The steely-eyed assassin who lurks in the shadows ruthlessly taking money to end a life is simply mesmerizing. We can’t look away.
While Hollywood has served up countless stories orbiting around professional hitmen, John Wick is arguably the most compelling. Wick is a retired assassin formerly in the employ of the Russian mob in New York City. He has recently lost his wife to cancer. His prized possessions are a cherry 1969 Mach 1 Mustang and a beagle puppy that had been a gift from his deceased bride. Wick encounters a headstrong young Russian mafia figure at a gas station, and things go pear-shaped from there.
The upstart Russian and his thugs break into Wick’s house, beat him up, steal his car, and kill his dog. In so doing they awaken a sleeping giant. John Wick’s close combat skills are superhuman. What follows is 101 minutes of unfettered choreographed mayhem. John Wick: Chapter 2 came out three years later. John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum debuted two years after that. John Wick: Chapter 4 is due to hit theaters in March of 2023. I, for one, cannot wait.
Keanu Reeves’ John Wick fits the expected stereotype. He is fast, calculating, ruthless, and unkillable. He has extraordinary hand-to-hand skills and packs absolute state-of-the-art firepower. John Wick is a cold-hearted killer enraged by the loss of the things he loves. However, it turns out that John Wick is just a movie. Out here in the real world, contract killing is seldom quite so tidy.
The Philosophy of Death
We are not really designed to take human life. For normal people who might fudge on their tax deductions or cut the tags off their mattresses, cold-blooded murder is a bit of a red line. Those who actually engage in such stuff do so at a terrible emotional cost.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is a complicated medical malady diagnosed via a discrete set of pathological behaviors. Distilled to its essence, those with ASPD have an inability to empathize with the pain of others. They are essentially born without a conscience. Most folks with ASPD end up in prison or dead. It’s a bad problem. However, there are actually those who monetize their malady. ASPD can be a useful tool if your job involves killing for cash.
The Making of a Monster
Andrew Veniamin went by Benji. Born in November of 1975, Benji came of age in the Australian community of Sunshine, a suburb of Melbourne. His parents were Greek Cypriot immigrants. He served as an altar boy in the St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church. Later evidence suggests that his early religious training didn’t really take.
Veniamin was a gifted boxer. He trained relentlessly five days a week and was a compulsive runner. Though he only weighed 110 pounds when he boxed, he was considered quite competitive. However, as he grew older Benji came to see crime as a more lucrative career than professional boxing.
When he was young, Benji Veniamin worked in the West Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market. As near as I could ascertain he was never married, but he did father a daughter. His peculiar emotional malady ensured that he had criminal convictions for both theft and assault in short order.
Like most folks with his problem, Benji gravitated toward the kind of places his particular skills were considered valuable. He began a steady association with the Carlton Crew, a notorious organized crime ring active in Melbourne starting in the late 1970’s. Through this organization, Benji developed a close friendship with local crime boss Carl Williams and his wife Roberta.
People with ASPD can be inexplicably charming. That and, for reasons I will never comprehend, attractive women frequently find psychopathic nutjobs irresistible. Along the way, Williams’ wife Roberta developed quite a fondness for Benji. As a mob enforcer with access to the gang’s leadership and their families, Benji routinely delivered the Williams daughters to their religion classes every Tuesday before bringing them home and supervising their baths. The youngest daughter Dhakota held Benji in particularly high regard. There were allegations that the relationship between Benji and Roberta went a bit beyond regular reliable childcare, but those details don’t matter. What really characterized Benji’s professional life was the way he exercised his peculiar mental illness.
Bloodbath Down Under
In addition to a lack of conscience, Benji was prone to emotional outbursts. At one point Benji and a childhood friend harbored affection for the same girl. As the details came to light, Benji shot up the man’s house, set fire to his parents’ home, and threatened to murder the guy’s sister to bring the conflict to a head. By mutual acclimation, both men eventually agreed to settle their differences via a good old-fashioned fistfight. The friend later testified in court, “A friend of mine promised me that there’d be no guns, as long as I brought no gun as well…I promised him (Veniamin) I’d bring no gun and he promised me the same thing. He just stood there until I got close to him and then produced a gun.”
After all that buildup, before the fight could even begin Benji simply shot the other man in the leg and declared victory.
On another occasion, Benji approached a local nightclub accompanied by friends. When two large and imposing bouncers attempted to prevent his entry the physically smaller hitman beat them both senseless. Such stuff earned the wiry little man an outsized reputation.
Despite his obvious skills as a chauffeur and nanny, Benji Veniamin was first and foremost a hired killer. His targets could be total strangers or intimate friends. If directed to take a life, he did so without apparent remorse. This was a marketable skill in this particular place and at this particular time.
By 1999, Veniamin and a school buddy named Dino Dibra were running a lucrative marijuana racket and netting a fair amount of money. Whenever others would attempt to muscle in on their business, Veniamin simply shot them. Throughout it all, Veniamin developed an enthusiasm for both the lifestyle and the product.
In May of 2000, it was alleged that Benji shot and killed a local businessman named Frank Benvenuto as he sat in his car. Five months later he killed his business partner Dino Dibra after a disagreement over control of the business. Two years after that he killed another childhood buddy named Paul Kallipolitis over something or other. His reputation grew to the point that he was eventually paid $20,000 NOT to kill a man who offended his brother.
Benji eventually developed a professional relationship with a proper villain named Dominic “Mick” Gatto. Gatto had been a competent boxer himself in his youth before becoming a successful and wealthy businessman. Along the way, he developed an intimate association with a variety of criminals. These relationships supposedly substantially enhanced his commercial success. Gatto was known to make generous charitable donations to children’s causes. It was said that Benji looked up to Gatto and viewed him as a sort of father figure.
The Hitman’s Demise
By this point in Australia, the private ownership of firearms was strictly controlled. In the 1990’s the Aussie government enacted blanket gun confiscation that disarmed most law-abiding Australian citizens. These laws unsurprisingly had little effect on Melbourne’s organized crime gangs.
Benji Veniamin was by now a seasoned shooter. He told friends that he favored revolvers to autoloaders for wet work for their innate reliability. It was therefore a four-inch Smith and Wesson Model 10-5 .38 that Benji had handy as he met with his boss Carl Williams and his buddy Mick Gatto at the La Porcella restaurant on March 23, 2004. I have found Australians to be fairly casual. On this fateful evening, Benji had his wheelgun concealed underneath a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
Rumors were swirling that Benji had killed a friend of Gatto’s named Graham Kinniburgh. In retrospect, it turned out that he had nothing to do with this particular gangland slaying. Veniamin called Gatto over to a quiet corridor behind the kitchen so they could have a private conversation on the subject. Benji’s epic temper manifest itself, and the conversation grew heated.
Benji drew his weapon intending to kill Gatto, and the two former boxers struggled for the gun. From the subsequent trial transcript: “I never seen where he got it from but he pulled a gun out and that’s when…I had hold of his hand with both my hands and I sort of pushed it towards him and…I forced — he had his hands on the trigger and I just forced his hands — squeezed his hands to force him to pull the trigger. When I pushed the gun towards him and I was squeezing his hand he sort of pulled me off balance and I nearly fell over on top of him and the gun was going off. It was just bang, bang. I’ve got to be honest, I thought I was a dead duck. I thought I was gone.”
That all sounds pretty fishy to me, but I obviously wasn’t there. Regardless of the particular circumstances, five rounds were fired. Benji was hit once in the head and twice in the neck. He bled out on the spot. The contract killer responsible for at least seven known murders died as he lived at age 28, in some ways a victim of his own unfortunate disease.
Duke’s Colt SAA .45 remodeled with Peacemaker Specialists’ 1880s Package.
After 50 years of buying Colt Single Action Army revolvers in many calibers and all generations, I had never actually had one custom-made to my specs. Of course, I’ve had special ivory, bone or fancy wood grips fitted and I’ve had special-order barrel lengths such as a 3rd Generation .38-40 with a non-cataloged 4″ barrel with matching ejector rod and housing.
The gorgeous color-case-hardened hammer now matches the frame.
Going OIld-School
Recently in a conversation with Eddie Janis, head of Peacemaker Specialists located in Paso Robles, Calif., he mentioned his “1880s Package.” It consists of taking a 3rd Generation SAA with the so-called “black powder” frame and remodeling it to duplicate an 1880s Peacemaker as closely as possible. Now, I’ve been friends with Eddie for over 20 years and had him slick up the internals on a couple of Colts, and purchased items from his extensive inventory of parts for all generations. After he described the alterations for a 1880s Package, I got to thinking — “I’m now approaching my seventh decade. If I want to have a special Colt, it better get in the works.” So it did!
Let me describe the 1880s Package. Please note any of the services mentioned next can be purchased individually and the customer does not have to go for all of them.
Here’s the list — the barrel and all blued parts are cleaned of finish and markings, then restamped as they would have been in the 1880s. The cylinder flutes are lengthened and front of flutes beveled. Beveling is also done to the front of the ejector rod housing, and toe and heel of grip frame. The hammer spur is checkered and outlined and hammer is color case hardened. The other parts, after cleaning and re-marking, are then rust blued.
After the cosmetics, there is the inside of the Colt to consider. First off, I’m sad to say the internals of third Generation SAAs are often a mess. They usually function OK but most specimens are gritty and heavy when cocking the hammer. Likewise with the trigger pull. Cylinder looseness is a gripe often mentioned by new buyers.
Peacemaker Specialists makes all those problems go away. When I received my gun back, its action was remarkable. Cocking the hammer made me wonder just how it could be so smooth and light, without any sideways wobble the 3rd Generation hammers sometimes have. Trigger pull was right about 3 lbs. with absolutely no creep or grit and the cylinder — how can it be so tight, both with hammer cocked and at rest? There is not one iota of shake either laterally or fore and aft. It baffles me.
The Raw Material: Duke’s second — and final — candidate for customization
came from the Colt factory as a 7.5″ barrel .45 Colt.
Caliber stamp on barrel in the white during the Peacemaker Specialists remodeling
compared with current style of caliber stamp.
Stocking Up
When it comes to handgun stocks, I’m a bit of a nut job. Hardly any of my handguns wear factory issue stocks except the military collectibles. Factory stocks are usually too thick, too thin or just too ugly for me. Contrary to many Peacemaker lovers, I’m not big on ivory stocks as a grip material although I do have some. Bison bone is a great material for SAA stocks but the fellow who made mine is now deceased. The truth of the matter is I’m simple in my tastes and prefer good American (black) walnut. I instructed Eddie to use ordinary straight grain walnut as Colt would have used circa 1880 and to make them one piece as Colt did. They fit perfectly.
I didn’t go for one service offered by Peacemaker Specialists — a new cylinder, made by rechambering a smaller caliber cylinder so the chamber mouths match .45 Colt barrel groove diameter. Colt SAA .45s have 0.451″ barrel groove diameter as standard but their cylinder chamber mouths usually run 0.455-457″. The redone cylinders offered by Peacemaker Specialists have 0.452″ chamber mouths. For years, I’ve preached against Colt putting those huge chamber mouths in .45s, so why didn’t I go for the smaller size with this SAA?
The answer is logistics. I have a dozen other .45 Colt revolvers, most with those huge chamber mouths. My .45 Colt handloading is usually with softer 1:20 tin-to-lead alloy bullets sized to 0.454″. This system gives more than adequate accuracy from all my .45 sixguns. Thus, I wanted to leave the cylinder chamber mouths of this special .45 the same dimension so I didn’t have to load different .45s rounds for it.
Keepin’ it real: Duke chose straight-grain walnut stocks (right) on his remodeled
1880s SAA instead of fancy walnut grips (left) fit for a dude!
These parts were sent back to Duke “in the white” during the work so they could be photographed.
Of Pins And Locks
From introduction in 1873 until the mid-1890s, Colt Peacemakers had their cylinder base pins secured by a screw angling in from the front of the main frame. In the 1890s, Colt began phasing this system out in favor of a transverse spring-loaded lock. Somehow, the first system got the moniker “black powder frame” although Colt did not guarantee SAAs for smokeless powder ammunition until 1900. Therefore both frame styles were actually sold prior to the smokeless powder warranty.
Regardless, for Peacemaker Specialists to do a true 1880s package the customer must supply them a “black powder frame” sample on which to work and it’s actually not as easy as it sounds. Colt reintroduced a limited number of black powder frames in their 1873-1973 Peacemaker Centennial Commemoratives. In the 1980s, with their 3rd Generation production, Colt began to offer black powder frame SAAs as a custom shop option and continued to do so albeit intermittently into the 21st century. They do not offer them now. The only option for people like you and me is to find one on the Internet or sitting in a gun shop.
After my conversation with Eddie Janis about the 1880s Package I began perusing Gunbroker.com for a black powder frame 3rd Generation .45. Initially, I wanted it with a 4-3/4″ barrel so Peacemaker Specialists could re-mark it with the old style double address line. It took a few months of Internet searching but I finally found a 4-3/4″ .45 back in Kentucky. Once it arrived, I fired it 10 rounds, hit the stump of wood I aimed at every time and shipped it right to Eddie
Left is the factory cylinder, while right is the “new” cylinder. Note the bigger
bevels at the end of the cylinder and larger flutes.
Project Hits A Snag
Soon Eddie called and in an almost regretful tone told me essentially the following — “A friend wouldn’t build something for a friend knowing it was going to come out substandard in the end.” My quickly bought-and-shipped 4-3/4″ .45 was manufactured during a time when Colt was having problems with fit and finish of third Generation SAAs. He pointed out several flaws I should have noticed so he returned it and my search started again.
After a couple months I hit the jackpot upon encountering a new-in-box 7-1/2″ SAA made in 2008. It was a beauty. Although I wasn’t going to get my two-line address, the 7-1/2″ length is actually my favorite for shooting. It was sent to California and Eddie approved of it.
The checkering done on Duke’s SAA hammer spur to match an 1880s hammer spur.
Unfortunately, the firing pin cannot be changed to match an 1880s model.
Waiting, Waiting …
To make a long story short, months passed but finally my new old gun arrived back home. It’s a beauty!
How does it group on paper? Darn if I know; having never shot it on paper. I can hit steel or wood time and time again despite my 70-year-old eyes. Even better, those eyes can bask in the Peacemaker’s radiance when taking a break at my word processor because I’ve been keeping it near me on my desk.
U.S.A. –In an incident that took place in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, a homeowner shot and killed a man who was attempting to break into their residence. The tragic event unfolded early Sunday morning when the homeowner’s swift actions resulted in the death of the intruder, identified as 20-year-old Kameron Serigny from Gonzales, LA.
The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the attempted break-in at around 6 a.m. Deputies arrived at the scene and discovered Serigny deceased. The homeowner, whose identity remains undisclosed, reported firing several shots at Serigny in response to his forceful entry.
According to investigators, the chain of events began when the Serigny first targeted a car parked in the driveway, setting off the alarm and drawing the homeowners’ attention. The residence was equipped with multiple security cameras, which captured footage of the suspect engaging in bizarre behavior, such as eating grass and striking his chest.
Video evidence showed Serigny subsequently attempting to break the glass door of the home. At this point, the homeowner discharged a single shot, causing the intruder to collapse. However, Serigny managed to regain his footing, puncturing another hole in the door before eventually breaking it open. The homeowner responded by firing three to four additional shots, ultimately leading to Serigny’s death.
Detectives examining the security footage corroborated the homeowner’s account of the events, providing strong support for the homeowner’s claim of self-defense. As a result, no charges have been filed against the homeowner at this time, as confirmed by the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Bobby Webre of the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office shed light on the incident, noting that Serigny appeared to have been under the influence of psychedelic drugs during the attempted break-in. Witnesses reported the intruder exhibiting erratic behavior, including pulling his hair and consuming grass. Despite repeated warnings from the homeowner, Serigny persisted in his attempt to enter the domicile.
Webre further revealed that the homeowner’s wife had remained on the phone with emergency services throughout the ordeal, providing real-time information on the unfolding situation. When Serigny finally managed to break through the glass door, the homeowner fired shots at him multiple times, leading to his demise inside the living room.
Law enforcement officials have not uncovered any substantial criminal history related to the deceased intruder, suggesting that this was not a premeditated home invasion. While investigations into the incident are ongoing, the evidence thus far has supported the homeowner’s actions as a justifiable response to a threat to their personal safety and property.
By Fred Riehl and AI tools. Note: This article was generated using AI technology and may contain some automated content aggregation and analysis.
I got to handle and shoot the new turkey guns at the Beretta Range Day. They are built right here in the USA, down in Tennessee!
While there were no turkeys at the range for me to shoot, I did shoot a number of clay pigeons they were throwing. The A 300 Ultima handled well, broke the clays with ease, and functioned flawlessly.
These scatter guns are available in two camouflage finishes, Realtree Edge or Mossy Oak DNA. They will no doubt blend into the woods well. The Kick-off recoil system comes standard and made shooting the field loads seem like nothing.
I know a heavy TSS load will pack more punch but with the KO system it should be comfortable to shoot. The grip and forend are well textured providing a solid hold for the hard-hitting loads. The stock is adjustable with shims for drop and cast to get the fit just right.
The A300 Ultima also comes with oversized controls for easy operation. The bolt handle, bolt release and safety are all right there and large enough to feel through gloves.
I really like seeing these features now being offered on factory shotguns. The 3 Gun competition community has been adding them for years to make operation faster in a game where times are measured to the .01 of a second.
The modifications to the loading port also originated from 3 Gun competitors and definitely make loading and unloading of the shotgun easier.
Specifications
- Caliber 12 or 20 gauge
- Barrel Length 24 inches
- Length of Pull 14.25 inches
- Overall Length 43.9 inches
- Stocks Synthetic
- Finish Mossy Oak
- Sights Vent rib with fiber optic front or rail for optics mounting
- Rail Picatinny 1913
- MSRP $999
is a world-class competitive shooter having won medals at both the 2012 IPSC World Shotgun Championship in Hungary and more recently the 2017 IPSC World Rifle Championship in Russia.
Starting in 1976 I have been to Gunsite more times than I can remember. Besides meeting life-long friends, one of the best things is the networking always taking place.
At a three-day revolver/lever-action rifle event last year, I took my Colt New Service and a Model 92 Winchester, both chambered in 45 Colt. Records show my revolver was made in 1907 — roughly half a century before I was born. Two years after this one was made, the U.S. Army adopted it as the Model 1909, two years before the iconic 1911 became the standard issue sidearm.
I love my Pythons, and K- and L-Frame Smith & Wessons, but I have a soft spot for the older revolvers, especially the large frame Colts. Mechanically this revolver was in good shape and I have used it at several Gunsite events.
However …
The exterior was another story and I confess toying with the idea of refinishing the big Colt. The original blue was about 60 percent and showing honest use. This was not a concern as I believe such wear shows character. There were, however, some nicks and scratches I wanted to correct.
Among other things the bottom of the frame appeared as though it had been used for hammering something — I like to think it was from hanging up a wanted poster from some long-forgotten Arizona desperado.
Before: Denny’s 1907 Colt New Service before refinishing.
After: Denny’s beautiful Colt New Service after restoration. It’s ready for another century or more of good shooting!
Decisions
After much internal debate I finally decided to give the old war horse a facelift.
At the Gunsite event mentioned above I met a young man by the name of David Fink. Fink has, among other things, both a Gunsmith Master Certification and a Gunsmith Advanced Certification to his name. Dave offers custom gunsmithing, custom rifle and pistol builds, machining and prototyping, along with re-bluing and Cerakote coatings. In short, it’s a full service shop.
I saw several examples of Fink’s work at Gunsite, including refurbishing and re-bluing a beat-up Smith & Wesson Model 10. All examples I observed showed superb workmanship so I made arrangements with Dave to remove the imperfections and re-blue my revolver.
After acquiring a pair of ivory stocks with gold Colt medallions from N.C. Ordnance to replace the original worn, hard rubber grips, I gave the Colt to Dave. The only thing left was the anticipation of receiving back the finished sixgun, reload some more 45 Colt and head to the range.
As custom work goes, I didn’t have long to wait as Dave completed the revolver in six weeks!
Before: The bottom of the frame showed dents as if it had been used as a hammer.
Maybe from hanging up a wanted poster from a long-gone outlaw?
After: Look Ma! No dings! All the dents were removed from the frame.
The Facelift
In addition to the damage on the bottom of the frame mentioned above, the cylinder had deep scoring caused by a sharp burr on the front sideplate screw from a previous owner. There were some small dings on the top strap of the frame as well as on the barrel towards the muzzle.
The Rampant Colt logo and inspector stamp were very shallow and I asked Dave to retain them during finishing if at all possible. He was able to retain the markings on the sideplate and the marking “New Service 45 Colt” on the barrel is still crisp and clear.
Dave recontoured the previously burred sideplate screw and fit it flush with the frame. The overall finish is a bright, polished blue and is so deep it is reminiscent of the finish applied to Colt and Smith & Wesson years ago.
The nitre-bluing process (sometimes referred to as fire bluing) can produce a wide range of colors from light yellow to super bright “peacock” blue. Dave finished the screws, trigger, hammer, cylinder release, lanyard ring and ejector rod head in a gold color to contrast with the bright blue and compliment the gold medallion in the stocks.
The completed restoration was more than I could have hoped for. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it was simply stunning.
Before
After
100-lb. Trigger
The double-action trigger pull on my New Service was light — as long as you had a mule handy to hitch to it! The pull weight bottomed-out every gauge I own. The single-action pull wasn’t much better, being roughly the same as the double-action pull in many revolvers. I asked Dave to lighten it up some if he could.
Colt revolvers use a “V”-shaped mainspring. One method of lightening the trigger pull is to put something between the upper and lower leg of the “V” and bend the top leg upwards. This method sometimes barely lightens the trigger pull and if bent too much, it results in unreliable ignition.
Dave tried the above technique, but because the 112-year-old spring was so brittle, it snapped before any bend could be made. He ordered a new main spring and much to his and my surprise, the double-action trigger pull was now at a very manageable 9 lbs., with single-action breaking at a crisp 2.5 lbs.
Proof Test
I couldn’t wait to shoot it and despite the temperature being in the mid-30s with drizzling rain, I went to the range the same day I picked it up, along with a quantity of Keith-type 255-gr. semi-wadcutter rounds. To my great satisfaction the old revolver was more accurate than before. The restoration itself had nothing to do with the increased accuracy but it can be attributed to the much lighter trigger pull, allowing a smoother press while the sights were on the target.
Any new finish will add a few thousandths to the thickness on the metal surface. As a result, there was a barely perceptible hitch in the cylinder release. I have no doubt this will disappear with use as the parts wear in.
A friend remarked the old Colt is now too pretty to carry. However, I don’t own any “safe queens” and I’m looking forward to more trips to Gunsite to put some honest holster wear back on the old warhorse.